German foodways - in Germany and US

German immigrant cookbooks, industrialization caused changes in German cheese production, and Octoberfest talks.

Rice puddings

My grandmother's recipe, baked in her rice pudding bowl (left). Another baked for 4 hours adding milk every half hour until extremely thick. Or boiled around an apple in a cloth. Or a c1800 MD manuscript recipe boiled with suet. Or used rice flour. Or burnt rice...

Archive 2 - listing of past virtual food history talks Jan-Feb 2021

The first archive of links is filling up since several months had over 200 talks. The original calendar post will maintain the current month of virtual talks listing Calendar of virtual talks. This post is to "archive" all (including not taped) virtual talks on the events list from the past months.  Many talks are not taped (only a fourth of the talks are) and marked in red as Tape Those which are taped will be placed in the various categories when I have time. 

Archive listing of past virtual talks during Covid lockdown 2020

The original calendar post will maintain the current and future virtual talks listing and other materials Calendar of virtual talks. This post is to "archive" all (including not taped) virtual talks on the events list from the past months - 684 talks. Many talks are not taped, so only a third of the talks have tapes to view and marked in red as Tape. Those which are taped will be placed in the various categories (ie museums, culinary groups, subjects) on the other post... when I have time. 

Pumpkin Pie poem recipe

A poem about gathering pumpkins heaped "high in the old red cart" hauled by oxen then made into a pie appeared in the November 23, 1889 edition of Good Housekeeping. 

WWI Pumpkin Pie

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice [ceasefire] on the Western Front took effect.  Some countries commemorate Armistice Day, but in the US we remember our fallen and vets on Veteran's Day.  During World War I bakers and cooks were recruited who used the Army manual for cooking, including a recipe which made 15 pumpkin pies.

Grated Pumpkin Pie

Early pumpkin pies were made from pureed or sliced pumpkin.  A third option was to use grated pumpkin. It is important to remove the excess liquid from the grated pumpkin, as described below, before making any of the pie recipes...

Hale and making Thanksgiving a national holiday

Last Thanksgiving I wrote a bit about Lydia Child, this time I'll present the more well known connection - Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (1788-1879). She worked for years to get Thanksgiving recognized and celebrated as a national holiday. Her description of a dinner in New England, 1827 and recipes...

Lydia Child's Thanksgiving connection

Although Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) today is best known for her cookbooks, most people have sung "Over the river, and through the wood" which is taken from her poem "The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day" from Flowers for Children, II, 1845.

Preserved Pumpkin Chips - 1840 & 1770

Pumpkins can be made into many other recipes other than pie. Be sure that they are of the 'eating' variety not field or jack-o-lanterns. These Chips are sweet preserves to accompany dishes or as a snack.  The 1840 recipe (and the modern interpretation) results in alot of water being taken out...